September 2006
Hurricane season has arrived and with the Katrina experience still sharp in our minds, we’ll likely expect business to once again come to the rescue if government falls short. But what are reasonable expectations of the private sector and how much should we rely on companies to make sure that the nation has a first-rate disaster response?
Interestingly, according to two recent surveys, the American public is schizophrenic about its faith in business. While trust in business is below 50 percent, according to Edelman’s latest Trust Barometer, a poll commissioned by Cone, Inc. showed that 87 percent of individuals expect companies to play an important role in rebuilding areas affected by disasters.
So even though we don’t trust corporate America, we still want big companies to step up when there is a crisis. How do we reconcile our views of business when the Enron era meets the age of Katrina?
The real question is who should take responsibility for a critical and fundamental public service – responding to disasters.
There is a big problem when citizens think their private sector is more capable of managing a public service than their elected government (62 percent of those in the Cone survey).
It’s one thing to say that business can do a particular job better. Remember “privatization?” But it’s a very different matter – and a cause for concern – when the public is clamoring for business to assume responsibility for a function that is not in its line of business. This isn’t a case of private security agencies providing better protection for a community than a local police force or private schools educating our children better than public schools. In those examples, the private entity is set up expressly to do security or education.
What irony that business is actually more trusted in an area other than how it makes its money. The fact is, no company is in the business of disaster response. Whether we’re talking about Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Pfizer or FedEx, these companies do not have disaster response in their mission statements. And these companies are not racing to take on the FEMA mantle either.
But companies are willing and able to be a major force in shaping the country’s disaster response in a proactive way. “Government Broke Down, Business Stepped Up” was a Fortune cover story last October. Regrettably, the Federal government is not seizing this opportunity and tapping the private sector before disaster strikes.
We need to make sure that companies’ contributions – in the way of logistics, inventory management, pre-positioning supplies and communications technology – are more than just a one-shot deal. FEMA should be harnessing that know-how to strengthen the nation’s disaster response plans. It should be leading the charge to include the private sector as a key player to help develop more effective systems for all phases of disaster response – from mitigation to rebuilding.
The private sector needs to be part of the plan, not the default if the plan fails. American business’ greatest – and most strategic and sustainable – contribution is providing its expertise, not assuming an outsourced government function.
Hurricane season is here and time is running short for the federal government to bring the private sector into the fold. Our safety depends upon having the best experts – across the public, private and nonprofit sectors and across industries – working collaboratively to create a first class national disaster response system.
Editor's note: We welcome submissions from all readers. Our readership is varied and ranges from those with many years experience in corporate citizenship to those who are just entering the field. If you have a story to tell, advice to share, or a voice that wants to be heard, we welcome your submission. To learn more or submit an article, contact Susan Thomas.
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